


Submerge Yourself

by wackyjacqs



Series: Bizarre Holidays [77]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M, Stargate: Continuum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-23 07:40:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18149018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wackyjacqs/pseuds/wackyjacqs
Summary: “Nobody comes in or out until we can surface and deal with these freaks.”Sam tried not to let her hurt show at the anger and contempt she heard in Jack’s voice.





	Submerge Yourself

**Author's Note:**

> Written for ‘Submarine Day’ (17 March). Teeny tiny episode addition for Continuum.

“Nobody comes in or out until we can surface and deal with these freaks.”

Sam tried not to let her hurt show at the anger and contempt she heard in Jack’s voice. She flashed back to the first meeting she’d had with her own then-colonel and how he had made his distaste for scientists known. But he wasn’t necessarily rude and she knew that he never would have referred to her as a _freak_.

But this man? He wasn’t _her_ Jack.

“Sir!”

She abruptly turned on her heel and managed just one step out of the ward room before the officer on guard moved to stand between her and this timeline’s Colonel O’Neill.

“Can we talk – privately?”

She looked between the two men before her attention stayed with Jack and she watched his eyes darken and his expression harden. Suddenly, he gestured for her to follow him as he walked down the corridor and took a left into one of the quieter alcoves.

“You have two minutes.”

“OK, I know our story sounds far-fetched, but –” she continued, ignoring his snort of disbelief. “We’re telling you the truth.”

“Sure, you are.”

“Sir –” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, but her mind was flooded with images and memories and the catastrophic fallout from the extraction ceremony.

“You have to believe us.”

“I don’t _have_ to do anything.”

Her gaze snapped up to meet his and she had to force herself not to flinch under his glare, so she tried to change the conversation.

“You said you knew me?”

“Our paths crossed a couple of times,” he shrugged. “Official functions, mostly. I told you that brain of yours would get you into trouble one day,” he smirked, although the action was completely void of humor. “Seems I was right.”

“I’m not the same Carter.”

“No, you’re not,” he replied, giving her a slow onceover. “But something tells me that wherever you’re from, you’re still an egghead – and probably a national treasure.”

Her breath caught as she remembered the one and only other time she’d been called a national treasure and she had to quickly blink back tears.

“You know me as well.”

It was a statement, rather than a question, but Sam nodded regardless, picking up on the hint of curiosity in his voice, but she wasn’t sure what she should – or even wanted – to tell him.

“What Daniel said – about us travelling to different planets... It’s not a lie. We were a team. We were – we were friends,” she finished quietly.

Sam let her gaze fall away and her attention unwittingly fell to the colonel’s left hand – where no wedding ring was present. She didn’t notice Jack follow her gaze, only meeting his eye again when he said, “What?”

“I, ah,” she gestured towards him, hoping her voice remained neutral. “I guess you and Sara –”

His gaze flicked down to his left hand but Sam was surprised to see his glowering expression.

“That’s none of your damn business.”

She immediately straightened and nodded. “No. No, you’re right. I’m sorry, I –” She stopped and took another deep breath. Moments later, she quietly added, “I’m really glad Charlie’s safe.”

“Don’t talk about my son, either,” he warned.

Sam bit back a sigh as she held Jack’s gaze. She didn’t know what this Jack O’Neill had been through but whatever it was, it had made him cold and distant. There was a hard edge to him and an impenetrable layer that Sam knew, in her gut, she wasn’t going to be able to break through.

She slowly felt her hope slip through her fingers. This colonel was not on their side and he would not help them. He wasn’t _Jack_. He wasn’t the same man she had fought alongside for seven years and known for the best part of a decade. It wasn’t _him_. The one who held her gaze at the extraction ceremony as he took his final breaths and tried to tell her everything he’d never got a chance to say. The man standing in front of her was _not_ her husband.

With that realization, Sam swallowed her sadness and refused to give this stranger any more of her time. She pulled her shoulders back and with fierce determination, promised herself that she would figure out a way to fix the timeline and return home to save her own Jack O'Neill.


End file.
